6x6 Africa Talent: Gulshan Khan, South Africa

“Gulshan Khan’s interest in identity, transition and belonging within a post-colonial South Africa continues to direct her visual representations of the human condition and the world around her. It is her sensitivity, and the respect that she has for people that I feel comes through in her work, and is eventually the underlying strength of her photography. Gulshan is a believer that political and socio-economic awareness helps direct powerful visuals” - Neo Ntsoma, South Africa, photojournalism trainer & photographer at Neo Ntsoma Productions and 6x6 nominator

Gulshan Khan is an independent photographer based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a stringer for Agence France Presse (AFP). Khan’s interests in identity, transition and belonging continues to direct her visual representations of the human condition and the world around her.

Islam in South African Migrant, Refugee and Diaspora Communities

There is something to be said about the intangible spaces between things and people, and the unseen threads which bind them together. Faith is one of these threads that extends from the deep psyche to the physical, the self to the communal. South African Islam, with its long history of colonialism, apartheid, migration from all over the continent and its continuous new influences, has many diverse ways of cultural practice and community accents. It is evident that the threads of faith lengthen and traverse borders, acting as a force that keeps communities together as they establish ‘home’ in new places. The practice of which often becomes a replication of origins or an amalgamation of a home left behind and a new land that sometimes dictates an adjusted way of observance and worship. Without omitting the evident contradictions and complexities, she wants to show the differences and the sameness within these communities, portraying the seeking and the hope which in its essence is all the same.

Life in Plastic

Plastic is proving to be one of the biggest global threats and people around the world are mobilising to find ways to alleviate the problem. To some, however, it means more than saving the planet; it is the means to earning food and shelter, day by day. This is a story on the plastic waste reclaimers in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and how they earn their bread.

Discover work by the 6x6 Africa talents, and find out about 6x6’s nomination and selection process.